Ken Borland

South Africa’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus said on Friday that the British and Irish Lions tour is special because so much else in the sport has lost its sparkle. The rugby landscape used to be like a tastefully decorated room with a few classic furnishings; now it has become a gaudy space covered in floral chintz and kitsch.

But Erasmus, who made his Test debut in the final match of the 1997 Lions tour, and Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber were clearly like kids on the night before Christmas on Friday when they unveiled their planning for the epic series against the best of Britain and Ireland, with the South African squad confirmed to be announced next Saturday.

“It was really special to play my first Test in the third match of that series, but I was 24 years old and maybe didn’t understand as much how special it was. The players get it now: playing against the Lions is a rare, special thing. There are a lot of things in rugby that are not special anymore because we have so many different matches now.
“So it’s going to be fantastic to have the Lions here, even with no crowds. It only happens every 12 years, it’s like a World Cup final and we nearly missed out on it because it couldn’t be postponed, that would have messed up the whole schedule for overseas countries for the next 10 years. So we would rather have it with no crowds than not have it, we were even willing to play anywhere in the world,” Erasmus said on Friday.
While SA Rugby will continue efforts to have some spectators allowed at the games, Erasmus said they were mindful of ensuring they do the right thing.
“We’re preparing as if there will be no crowds, which will have a massive effect on how it feels at the ground, in terms of home advantage and on the way we communicate. But most of the players have exeprienced this before.
“We are trying really hard to have crowds allowed, but we are also very serious about following the government regulations. Hopefully government can see that we are reliable and supportive and maybe things will change. Even 25% capacity in one of the big stadiums would be a good crowd,” Erasmus said.
The director of rugby confirmed that the entire Springbok squad and management would be vaccinated against Covid-19 before going into a had bubble for the series.

South Africa’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus on Friday confirmed that next Saturday, June 5, will be the day when the 45 lucky South African rugby players who get to play the British and Irish Lions will be announced.

That enlarged squad will go into a hard bubble together and will see their first action nearly a month later in the first Test against Georgia. The initial group will also comprise the 23 players that will represent SA A against the tourists in Cape Town on July 14. The squad will then be cut to 35-37 players ahead of the first Test against the Lions on July 24.

Both Erasmus and Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber said they were heartened by having plenty of talent to choose from.

“In a way we are lucky to have players all over the world because our players in South Africa have just been playing against each other. But a guy like Jasper Wiese has done really well for Leicester, Rynhardt Elstadt and Cheslin Kolbe won the European Cup with Toulouse and Damian de Allende has been doing really well at Munster. We also have wonderful young talent locally, so we look pretty okay,” Erasmus said.

“Three players from the World Cup squad have retired and Lood de Jager, RG Snyman and Warrick Gelant are touch-and-go with injuries, but the rest are all in the running. The Tests against Georgia fall within the international window and we’ll have other goals against them but we still need to perform and win,” Nienaber added.

“There’s been a joint effort from the referees, coaches and players to get as much ball-in-play time as possible in our local rugby and there has been a massive improvement from the Currie Cup. We were a bit worried but comparing the figures to the Premiership and the Pro14, there’s good parity now and we are really happy.”

South Africa is famous for its loose forwards and it is a measure of our tremendous depth in that department that Roelof Smit, who toured with the Springboks in 2016, can only get a game of top-flight rugby when he turns out for the Toyota Invitation XV to play the Free State Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

A 25-man squad for the Invitation XV was announced on Wednesday and includes a fully-fledged Springbok in wing Jamba Ulengo, who played a Test against Wales in 2016.

Smit was chosen for the 2016 end-of-year tour as an openside flank, having burst on to the scene that year as one of the Bulls’ young stars. His only appearance on that tour was against the Barbarians, and although he scored a try he did not play in one of the Tests against England, Italy or Wales and so is not considered an official Springbok.

And since then he has suffered numerous injuries. Even a move to the Lions has not helped and he has fallen down the pecking order there as well after being knocked down by another spate of injuries. Last year he only returned to action in October, but suffered a calf injury in the new year and then yet another knee injury at the end of February.

Ulengo made a fine start to Super Rugby Unlocked action last October but has since rather faded from view at the Lions. But he has picked himself up numerous times in his career and Saturday gives him an opportunity to get himself back into the limelight.

Also amongst the backs named in the Invitation XV is Innocent Radebe, one of the most exciting schoolboy flyhalves in the country whose senior career has also been dogged by much bad luck. He was named by Peter de Villiers as his Eastern Province captain, only to fracture his hand three minutes into his first game in the kick-off series at the start of this season.

Toyota Invitation XV squad

Forwards: Dan Jooste (Sharks), Jean Droste (Cheetahs), Jeandre Labuschagne (Sharks), Johan du Toit (WP), Khwezi Mona (Sharks), Kwenzo Bloze (WP), Marnus van der Merwe (Cheetahs), Michael Kumbirai (Sharks), Mihlali Mosi (NMMU), Reinier Viljoen (Cheetahs U20), Roelof Smit (Lions), Ruhan Straeuli (Lions), Sazi Sandi (WP), WJ Steenkamp (Bulls).

Backs:  Corne Smit (WP), Dillon Smit (Lions), Innocent Radebe (EP), Jamba Ulengo (Lions), Jason Alexander (WP), JP Duvenhage (Shimlas), Keegan Johannes (Bulls), Leolin Zas (WP), Richard Kriel (Bulls), Shane Bolton (Shimlas), Tristin Leyds (WP).

There will be top-flight domestic rugby in South Africa this weekend as the Free State Cheetahs, looking to quickly get up to speed for the Currie Cup, will be taking on a Toyota Invitational XV in Bloemfontein on Saturday at 4pm.

The match will be the first the Cheetahs have played since March 28 when they hammered the Eastern Province Elephants 71-12 in the preparation series, having been excluded from the Rainbow Cup, which is on a bye week in South Africa. With the Currie Cup set to get underway on June 19, the Free Staters need some competitive action as they look to regain the trophy they won in 2019.

The Invitational XV will be made up of players who are on the fringes of their Rainbow Cup franchises and will be coached by Ricardo Loubscher and Daan Human, who are both part of the Springbok management.

“We’re excited because we haven’t played for two months and we’re really looking forward to getting rid of the rust. This is a very important match because we don’t play in the Rainbow Cup so we have to look after ourselves and make sure we get some quality opposition before the Currie Cup. You can train as much as you want, but on the field is where you see what’s working and what’s not.

“Our guys had two weeks off and we’ve trained for six weeks in the last two months. But they also need match-fitness and I don’t think the Lions and Bulls are going to lose too many players to the Boks, plus there are a lot of overseas players around, so the Currie Cup is going to be a very strong competition. But we have a lot of quality players too and it’s sad they did not get the chance to show that in the Rainbow Cup,” Cheetahs coach Hawies Fourie said on Monday.

Harold Verster, the managing director of the Cheetahs, said top-level rugby has been sorely missed in Bloemfontein, but he is confident it will return soon.

“We’ve been in the cold for a while, but now we can look forward to the Currie Cup, which will be played home and away, starting in June. We are still positive and looking forward and there are still one or two more games we are looking at. I’m very positive that the Cheetahs will be playing at a higher level, SA Rugby are working really hard on that process.

“In the meantime we’re trying to keep our heads up. We’ve been through difficult times before and we will get through this too. Participation in a new European competition has been pending for a couple of months now, Covid is causing problems with that though, and the decision has to go through the highest level of European rugby. But there are positive signs,” Verster said.